


Together

by imthegreatest



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-10-02 17:49:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20332093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imthegreatest/pseuds/imthegreatest
Summary: It's finally time for Rhett and Link to go off to college. They decided on this adventure together, however, Rhett decides to rush in a fraternity to see if he can further his music career. How will this effect his relationship with Link and his education?





	1. Chapter 1

They had waited for this day their whole life. It was finally time for Rhett and Link to go off to college and become “real adults”. After both accepting full rides to North Carolina State, the only conversation was about what college was going to be like. The parties, the education, the new experience of no adult supervision, even the talk of new relationships had come into conversation. Rhett had one girlfriend for a couple of months in high school, but it fizzled out pretty quickly once he got accepted into college considering she was a year younger than him. Link, on the other hand, was never really into dating. He was always focused on school and his friends. He loved his life as it was and really didn’t see the need to date someone, especially since he wasn’t interested in anybody. 

It was not too far of a drive from Buies Creek to NC State, but life will be different for the boy’s parents since they are becoming empty nesters. Considering the boys have been best friends since first grade, it’s like the other’s parents are also their own. Rhett decided to go over to Link’s house first to say goodbye to Link’s parents. They all packed up Link’s car with boxes of clothes, bedding, toiletries, and some vinyls Link held near and dear to his heart. Their apartment was fully furnished, so thankfully they did not have to rent a trailer or do any heavy lifting. They then drove to Rhetts’ house to do it all again. Goodbyes were said and tears were shed by Rhett’s mom, but she was so happy for her boy. They were becoming men and following their dreams. They loaded up Rhett’s car with all of the same things Link packed. Unlike Link, Rhett decided not to bring vinyls. Instead, he brought his guitar with him. He hoped that he could actually find time to write and maybe even play at a couple of the local bars or coffee shops. Music had always been his passion. 

After a few hours of driving, the boys finally reached their destination to Raleigh, North Carolina. They found their apartment that they had visited a couple of weeks before and parked outside on the street. Once they stepped out of their cars, they looked at each other and just smiled. 

“We finally made it, brother,” Rhett said. 

“I know man. I can’t believe we are finally here. It's so surreal.” 

Link just stared at his surroundings, in awe of his new apartment, new street, and new town. He really thought that all of the newness would make him extremely anxious. However, once he scanned over to Rhett, he felt a sense of calm rush throughout his body. With his best friend by his side, he knew he could conquer this new adventure. 

“What are you staring at me for?” Rhett questioned Link.

“Oh, sorry,” Link said. “I’m just really glad we decided to do this together. This is a lot of change at once and it's nice to have you here. Gives me a sense of home.”

“I totally agree with you there,” Rhett nodded. “We agreed to chase our dreams together, man, and I know change can be hard for you. But it's going to be great. I guarantee it.”

It took a couple of trips back and forth from their cars to get everything unloaded and into their apartment. With the final load in hand, Link walked up the steps through the front door. He set the last box down on the kitchen counter and turned around to see the layout of the apartment. It wasn’t huge, but it definitely wasn’t small. It was big and comfortable enough for two people to share the space. Link took the room closest to the front door and Rhett took the room at the end of the hallway past the living room- just enough distance from Link’s room so that if Rhett wanted to play guitar and sing, he wouldn’t disturb Link. 

Link decided to make his bed first while Rhett was ruffling through his clothes to figure out what needed to be hung up and what could be folded. After Link perfectly made his bed, he did the same as Rhett. Link found a couple of tees that he felt were too precious to fold and found some of the hangers he had packed to hang them up. Once he was done hanging his clothes, he went in Rhett’s room to see the progress he had made. Rhett was laying on his unmade bed looking through Twitter. 

“Rhett, you haven’t even made a dent in those boxes. Are you even planning on unpacking?”

“Yeah man, I just ran out of hangers and then got really lazy.”

“I came in here to give you my extra ones. I knew you wouldn’t pack enough. Here.” Link tossed the hangers in a bag on Rhett’s floor. 

“Hey, thanks,” Rhett laughed. “Why don’t we go out and celebrate tonight? We can go find a bar, grab a couple of drinks, and cheers to becoming independents. You can even pick the bar we go to.”

“Okay, that sounds like it could be fun. I'll do some research and find us a chill place to go”

It was about an hour later when Link came back into Rhett’s room. Rhett finally made his bed and got most of his stuff situated in his room. 

“Hey, I found a bar I want us to check out. They have live music, but apparently it’s super chill and not too rowdy. About a 15 minute drive though. Want me to call an Uber in like 30 minutes?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. I just gotta shower real quick.”

“Okay, so I'll call the Uber in like an hour,” Link said and laughed.

Rhett sat up off of his bed and started walking towards his bathroom. “Look, I promise I won't take forever this time. I can guarantee I’ll be ready in 30 minutes.”

“Okay, first round is on you if you don’t.”

“Deal.”

The Uber arrived around 7:30 which was about 45 minutes after Rhett started to get ready. Technically, Rhett was not ready within the 30 minute time period, but he was ready by the time the car came to pick them up. 

“Look, I got ready before we even had to leave. I still say I won this bet,” Rhett argued. 

“I said 30 minutes and you agreed to that. You still owe me a drink, brother.”

“Okay, fine, but I’m getting you a huge girlie one just to embarrass you.”

The boys laughed as they hopped into the car. The ride was filled with surface level conversation with the driver about how the boys just moved here to start college and pursue engineering degrees. The driver told them that the bar they were headed to was a very popular one and how it was one of her favorite spots in town. The car came to a stop and Rhett looked out the window. He saw the name “Side Bar” written on the roof of the building. The boys exited the car and told the girl thank you. They went up to the front door, showed their [fake] IDs and walked in. It seemed to be pretty crowded for a Thursday night. There was a guy who seemed to be around their age on stage with his guitar singing a John Mayer song. The singer was around Link’s height with swoopy brown hair. He was wearing dark jeans and a plain white tee. Everyone was listening and singing along to Slow Dancing in a Burning Room. Conversations were at a low volume. This is definitely something that was right up the boy’s alley. They both loved acoustic music and slow jams and it wasn’t wild which is exactly what Link wanted. 

Rhett walked up to the bar and spoke to the bartender before Link could even catch up. After a couple of seconds, Rhett was handed a beer and Link was handed a frozen strawberry daiquiri with a pink umbrella poking out of the top. Link graciously accepted the drink. Rhett laughed and gave Link a nudge to follow him to a nearby table. Once they sat down, Link took a sip of his daiquiri and smiled. 

“You know, this actually tastes very good. You should be jealous. I bet this costs more than your beer.”

“I got a laugh out of it, so it's worth every penny. I would like to try it, since I did buy it.”

Rhett tried a sip and nodded in agreement. “It is a very good daiquiri. Reminds me of when we went to the beach last summer with Gregg and Wilson.”

Link laughed. “That trip was definitely one for the books. Cheers to that trip.” 

The performer on stage decided to play a couple more John Mayer songs then it was time for a girl to take the stage. She was pretty short with long wavy blonde hair. Link thought to himself that she seemed to resemble Rhett’s highschool girlfriend. The brown haired boy walked off stage and went to the bar near Rhett and Link. Rhett needed another beer so he walked up to the bartender.

“Can I get another Michelob?” He turned to face the guy from the stage. “Hey man. I really enjoyed your music. I love playing John’s stuff, too. It's cool to see you add your own spin to it.”

“Hey, thanks! I really appreciate that. Hey, Dan, put his drink on my tab, will ya?”

“Oh, nah for real you don’t gotta do that.”

“Its okay, for real. I want to treat my fan to a drink.” The singer laughed and stuck out his hand to Rhett. “My name’s Andrew.”

“I’m Rhett. Me and my buddy Link over there just moved here from Buies Creek.”

“Oh nice. Freshmen, huh? Have you considered rushing a fraternity?”

“Actually, I haven’t really thought about it. Didn’t really think it was my style.”

“Well if you change your mind, I’m in Sigma Nu and I like it a lot. There are also a lot of musicians in our frat too. It's a lot of fun and super chill. Something great to be apart of, ya know? We are having a party tomorrow night actually. Kind of an “informal rush” event. You should stop by and meet some of the brothers. It’ll give you a feel of the place.”

“Oh, okay,” Rhett nodded. “I mentioned my buddy Link. That’s him over there. Is it okay if he comes with me?”

“Totally fine, dude. Like I said, its informal so not really a big deal. Just come ready to chat. The Sigma Nu house is across the street from the Library. Here’s my number incase you get lost. I gotta head out and meet some of my friends. See you tomorrow, Rhett!”

Rhett walked back over to Link at their table. 

“So, you got to meet the musician. Was he cool?” Link asked.

“He actually invited us to some informal rush frat party tomorrow night. He wants me to consider rushing for Sigma Nu.”

“Interesting..,” Link questioned. “Are you wanting to go?”

“I think I might. I want you to come with me. He said that there are a lot of musicians in his fraternity and I think this could be a big opportunity for me to kind of dig into music more. What do you think?”

“I'll go with you to check it out. No promises on if I’ll like it though. He did sound good. I’ll give ‘em that.”

Rhett laughed and nodded his head. “I agree, and I appreciate you saying yes. Who knows? Maybe we could become brothers through this whole fraternity thing.”

“Ha! I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”


	2. Chapter 2

Link’s alarm went off at 8:00 AM. He had been tossing and turning all night. Being in a new town and new bedroom still made him incredibly anxious. He felt exhausted, but still found some happiness thinking about school starting. He was excited about getting books and figuring out his walk to and from class. However, he remembered that he promised Rhett he would go to the frat party with him. He couldn’t not go. He wanted to do whatever made Rhett happy. He just hoped that Rhett would have a lousy time. That way they would come home and Rhett could play the guitar. Link loved listening to Rhett play. It mesmerized Link to see Rhett fully immerse himself into his music. So much passion and talent ran through Rhett’s veins and Link could honestly watch Rhett play every second of every day. 

Link got out of bed and walked towards the kitchen. Rhett was sitting at the dining room table with some tea and a piece of toast with jam on it. 

Rhett looked up from his phone and gave Link a head nod. “Hey, man.”

“Oh hey. Why you up so early?”

“I was too excited to sleep in. I’m wanting to get school stuff together and I also wanna drive by the frat house some time today to kind of get the vibe of the place if I can. You wanna go run some errands in like an hour?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Link said. He turned to go back into his bedroom. Link’s stomach formed a small, but noticeable knot. He did not like the fact that Rhett had used “excited” and “frat house” in the same breath. 

Link turned back around to face Rhett. “Hey, Rhett?”

Rhett looked up from his phone with one eyebrow cocked.

“I am excited to be here, but I am also pretty anxious still. I didn’t really sleep well last night.”

“I totally get it. It’s all still so new and it’ll be like that for a few days I’m sure. But I’m here for ya and you know that. If you had trouble sleeping, why didn’t you come wake me up? I would’ve talked to ya.”

“I know, but it’s just dumb.” Link took a long pause. “Alright, I’m gonna be honest with you. I’m scared you’re really gonna like this frat thing. You’ve never been interested in greek life. It’s just so random. And like it just wasn’t a part of your plan. You’ll end up loving it and then you’ll end up becoming one of ‘those guys.’”

“What does ‘one of those guys’ mean?”

“You know, the ones that only care about partying and drinking. And then you’ll forget all about me because I’m not a cool new frat friend. I’m just your lame hometown friend that basically followed you to college because I am too anxious to go anywhere else on my own.”

“Link, what?” Rhett laughed softly. He got up from his seat and walked over to Link. He placed both hands on Link’s shoulders and looked him straight into his eyes. “You didn’t follow me. You literally wanted to be an engineer, and this is a great school for that. Then we decided on this specific college TOGETHER. Emphasis on together. You have no reason to freak out about losing me. You won’t lose me. There’s no way I’d ditch you.” Rhett brought Link in for a hug. He knew a hug would help Link calm down. 

Link wrapped his arms around Rhett’s waist and rested his head on his chest. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to freak out. I just cant help my mind from wandering sometimes. I just don’t think I could do this college thing on my own, Rhett.”

“You won't have to do it alone. I’m right here, bo.” Rhett pulled out of the hug and looked back at Link. “And with the whole frat thing? I still don’t know how I feel about it. Even if I do like it, that won't change anything. It's just something extra to put on my resume and it’ll give me more time to play music. You are one hundred percent a part of that. Every opportunity I get to play, you’re going to be there to cheer me on.”

“You’re right. I’ll be there every time. Your biggest fan.”

“And I expect nothing less,” Rhett said while walking towards his own room. They both laughed softly. Link started back towards his room to take a shower and get ready for the day while Rhett did the same. 

Since Link didn’t get breakfast, he asked Rhett to stop at a coffee shop down the street from their apartment. After that, the boys headed to the bookstore. They both registered at NC state as civil engineers and ended up scheduling all of their classes together this first semester. That way they would only have to buy one of each book and not two. Link was considered the more studious of the two. Rhett was smart, but applied more of his knowledge to music than towards his education. He relied on Link in highschool for homework, study sessions, and tutoring. Link didn’t mind teaching Rhett things or helping him out. It was just more time to spend with his best friend. And he expected college to be no different. He knew college would be a step up when it came to classes and was looking forward to the late nights of studying. Link thrived in school and Rhett loved that he did because it meant that he always was able to secure a study buddy. 

At the bookstore, they grabbed the 5 books the syllabuses said they needed and checked out at the front counter. They headed out to the car and Rhett began to look up directions to the Sigma Nu frat house. 

“It says that the Sigma Nu house is only 7 minutes from here. So I’m gonna drive by and then we can head to lunch.”

They drove down one of the main streets by the college. Soon they came up on New Row where all of the frat houses were. The houses were fairly large. Definitely bigger than houses the boys grew up in. Each frat had their own letters placed on the top of the doorway entrance of each house. Rhett started slowing down once they got closer to the Sigma Nu house. This house was slightly bigger than all of the other ones on the street. It was white with pillars standing tall in the front. Very presidential like. They were both looking out of Rhett’s window and Link tried to look over to read Rhett’s face, but because of the way they were turned, he couldn't see Rhett’s facial expression. Rhett was just amazed by the architecture. The house was so big and probably held so many guys on the inside. All could picture was himself playing a small concert for everyone he thought was in that house and how they would love the music he played for them. Rhett got so lost in his imagination he forgot he was driving.

“RHETT!” Link shouted. 

Rhett came to and slammed on the breaks. He wasn’t going to hit anything or anybody thankfully, but he almost ran off the road.

“Sorry I didn't mean to not pay attention. Just got distracted.”

“It is a big beautiful house. I mean I get it… kinda. But it’s not worth us wrecking over man.”

“This house is so big. Like could you just picture the audience they have when they have concerts??” Rhett questioned- ignoring Links side comment about him wrecking. “I can’t help but think this could be my starting point, Link. Meeting Andrew could be the start of something new and amazing for me!”  
“Yes, yes, you’re right it could be. Let’s just see how tonight goes and we can go from there, okay? Just get me to lunch in one piece, please.” Link wanted to support Rhett with everything he had. Of course he will still nervous about Rhett changing and everything else becoming different, but he wanted nothing more than for Rhett to follow his dreams, succeed and be happy. 

It was almost 8:00 pm, which was the time Rhett wanted to head to the party. Link decided to wear some ripped light wash blue jeans with a white tee and a dark blue suede jacket. Once he was ready to leave, he sat on the couch in the living room to wait on Rhett. Immediately after sitting down, he started to get jittery. He couldn’t help but bounce his leg up and down. It was a natural instinct when he became anxious. The sound of Rhett’s door opening made his the bouncing come to a halt. Rhett walked out of the door way into Link’s full view. Rhett was wearing some black jeans and a black tee. His hair was standing tall with his dirty blonde curls messy yet perfectly in place. Link couldn't help but notice just how gorgeous his best friend really was. He'd always thought Rhett was attractive, but never really outwardly expressed those feelings. To be honest, he was perfectly content with his life. He had Rhett to himself and didn't have to share with anyone else.

“Okay, you ready?” Rhett said.

“Waiting on you,” Link said with a smile.

The boys called an Uber and headed towards Sigma Nu. Once they were dropped off, they watched the car drive away and then turned to face the house. 

“You ready?” Rhett asked Link.

“I guess so. Let’s go.”

A couple of other people were walking up to the front of the house when they arrived, so they just followed the crowd through the parking lot and up to the front steps. The music at the house was much louder than the bar they went to last night. Rhett pulled out his phone to text Andrew to let him know that they had arrived at the party. He then decided to follow the crowd to the back of the house. Outside in the backyard, there were tiki torches everywhere and lights hanging from the upper deck. It was safe to assume that it was a hawaiian themed party. Someone came up behind the boys and placed a hand on Rhett’s shoulder. 

“Rhett! I’m really glad you decided to come!” Andrew seemed very excited to see Rhett. Andrew had on some khaki pants with a blue and white hawaiian shirt along with a lei around his neck. Andrew brought his hand from Rhett’s shoulder and extended it out to Link.  
“Hey man I’m Andrew. You must be.. Link right?”

“Yeah. it’s nice to meet you.” Link said forcing a smile. 

“I’m glad both of you decided to come,” said Andrew. He seemed to have a sincere smile on his face, or at least to Link it seemed more sincere than his own. “Drinks can be found at the bar over there. It’s all free. Just mingle around if you’d like and meet some of the brothers. We are the ones in the Hawaiian shirts and leis. I’ll come find you both in about an hour or so to see how things are going. Sound good?”

“Sounds good to me,” Rhett said. 

Andrew nodded and walked towards a group of guys by the fire pit. Rhett figured he might be a tad more social with a little bit of alcohol in his system, so he nudged Link and looked at the bar. Link nodded in agreement and they both walked towards the bartender. 

“Two beers please.”

They began to sip their drinks and look around. They hadn’t ever been to any type of event where they had to force themselves to converse. Rhett spotted two guys wearing Hawaiian shirts a couple of feet away and decided that there is where he would start mingling. He looked at Link. 

“Let’s go talk to those two guys over there. There’s no one else near them so we won’t be outnumbered.”

Link laughed and nodded his head. He took another swig of his drink and followed in Rhettt’s footsteps.

The conversation started off as one would expect. It was very surface level conversation that mainly involved talk about Buies Creek, why they chose NC State, and what sports they played in high school. Obviously Rhett wanted to direct the conversation towards music so he to mentioned that he played guitar in high school, but basketball took up most of his time. The fraternity boys seemed to be intrigued by Rhett’s music talk. They asked Rhett questions about what type of music he liked to practice and sing. Link had no problem hyping Rhett up to the brothers, saying that he was so talented and was going to go far one day. It seemed to be a very easy conversation. Rhett couldn’t help but hope that every conversation that night would end up going as smoothly as that one. 

The brothers decided they needed to go mingle with new rushees so they ended the conversation with a ‘nice to meet you’ and walked off. Rhett was very happy with how the interaction went and even Link was starting to feel more and more comfortable. 

“Okay, so are you wanting to stay together for this or separate and try to talk to different people?” Rhett questioned Link. 

“Uh, I mean yeah I’d like to stay together, but you obviously want to separate and meet some more people,” Link said while laughing. “I’m totally fine with that. Go meet people and talk about guitar stuff with them. I can’t really help out much in that conversation anyway. I’ll be over by the bar if you need me.”

“Cool, thanks man. I’ll try not to take too long.” Rhett winked at Link and walked off. 

Link smiled when Rhett winked at him, but once Rhett walked off his smile started to fade. He turned towards the bar and headed to get another drink. 

“Uh beer, please.” 

Link turned to look at his surroundings. He began to feel uncomfortable very quickly once he realized the situation he had just put himself in. He was at a house in a new town with no familiar faces around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate every single one of you who takes the time to read this! let me know what you think :)))


	3. Chapter 3

Link unintentionally started to peel the label off of the beer bottle. It was a way to keep his hands busy while his body started to fill with anxiety. He tried not to look at his surroundings because he knew if he looked around, he would have a panicked look on his face. He took out his phone and started to scroll through Twitter. Random thoughts from people’s mind started to fill his own; keeping his mind off of the stress surrounding him. After about an hour of mindlessly scrolling through his social media, someone tapped Link on the shoulder. He turned around to see Andrew standing in front of him with a big smile on his face. 

“Hey Link. How are you liking the party?”

“Oh yeah, it’s great. I met a couple of guys, too; had some good conversation. I’m just here for moral support really. Rhett really likes you guys and likes that y’all really encourage one another when it comes to music.”

“I’m glad Rhett likes us. We like him. I have had a couple of guys tell me about their conversations with him. I think he would fit in very well here. I have to head out actually, but tell him to keep an eye out for a call from me later on next week, will ya?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Thanks. It was nice to meet you too, Link. Glad you stopped by!”

“Nice meeting you too man. I’ll see you around I’m sure.” Andrew gave Link a small wink and then walked off. 

‘What is it with Andrew and this winking?’ Link thought to himself. 

He shook off the strange thought and decided he’d get another drink to try and calm his nerves. His mind wandered all over the place. Andrew’s winks made Link uncomfortable and he couldn’t understand why. Andrew as a whole seemed to bother Link. ‘It’s because Andrew is trying to take Rhett from you’ the voice in Link’s head said. Link remembered back to their conversation this morning. Rhett said that Link could never lose him. He promised. But for some reason, Link just couldn’t get himself to trust that promise. He knew that if Rhett decided to join this brotherhood, then he would lose his best friend. He couldn’t let that happen, but he also wanted Rhett to be happy and to follow his dreams. He was so confused and kept talking himself in circles. His breath started to get faster and faster. Sweat started to form on his forehead. Link was starting to panic. He was brought back to reality by the sound of Rhett’s voice.

“Link. Link!” Rhett put his hand on Link’s shoulder and was waving his other hand in front of Link’s clear framed glasses. “Hello?”

Link came to. “Woah, sorry. I kinda got zoned out there.”

“Are you feeling okay? You look like you’ve been sweating bullets. How much have you had to drink while I was gone?”

“I only had 3 drinks. I am fine i promise. I just kinda had a heat flash. I probably just need some water and I’ll be good to go. How are you? How was the rest of the party for you?”

“Link,” Rhett took a dramatic pause. “It was great. These guys are so cool. They love music. They are all majoring in something music related or engineering related. These are my type of people. Who knew i’d actually get along with the greeks?”

“Oh yeah actually Andrew came by to talk to me. He told me to tell you to expect a call from him next week or something.”

“Wait, really?” Rhett got extremely excited and began talking very fast. “What do you think that means? Did he sound excited?”

Link knew he had the opportunity to lie here. He could easily make it seem like Andrew and the others didn’t like him, but when he looked into Rhett’s eyes he just couldn’t get himself to do it. 

“Yeah, he definitely seemed excited. I think they like you. I mean how could they not?”

Rhett nudged Link and gave out a soft laugh. “Thanks man. I am sure they liked you too! How could they not, amiright?” Rhett winked at Link. ‘See, I like it when Rhett winks at me’ Link thought to himself. He blushed while smiling and put his head down to hide the embarrassment. 

“Whoo, I’m in such a good mood. I think I’ve tortured you enough tonight. Let’s go celebrate together, just us two. We can do whatever you like, Neal,” Rhett said. 

“Uhhh, I’m fine with just chilling at home and watching a movie or something. You tell me.”

“That sounds perfect to me. I’ll call an Uber.” Rhett pulled out his phone. “What are you wanting to watch? Do we need to rent a movie or do you have something in mind?”

“I don’t have anything in particular in mind. You’re the movie guru out of the two of us. You pick. Just no scary movies please. I don’t know if I am in the mood for all of that,” Link whined.

“I hate it when you say that because literally the movie I wanted to watch was the new IT movie that came out a couple of years ago. I haven’t seen it yet. I’ve seen so much promo for the new and I wanna hop on the bandwagon. Can we please watch it?” Rhett looked up from his phone and put his hand on Links wrist that was holding his drink. “Please?” Those puppy dog eyes got Link every time. 

“Fine. But I’m not happy about it.” Link said firmly. 

“But I am,” Rhett said with the biggest grin on his face. He pulled on Link’s wrist he was still holding and walked him to the front of the house to wait on the Uber.

The boys had asked the Uber driver to stop at a liquor store on the way home so they could pick up some more drinks to celebrate Rhett’s happiness. Once they got back to the apartment, they changed into more comfortable clothing. Link popped some popcorn while Rhett set up the movie on the tv. After the popcorn was ready, Link grabbed it from the microwave, grabbed two beers, and plopped on the couch next to Rhett. 

“Alright, I know you’re going to get scared, but just try to chill, okay?” Rhett said to Link.

“I make no promises,” Link said with a laugh. 

The boys picked up their beers, did a little cheers, and then hit play. 

Within the first fifteen minutes, Link knew the movie was going to freak him out. He just kept eating and drinking to keep his hands busy. Before he knew it, he was three beers in within the first hour. Rhett, however, was completely zoned into the movie. Link grabbed him another two beers, but he was drinking slower than Link. Drinking was not really their thing in highschool, but with this new found freedom, they decided to try it out and explore it together, just like they did with everything else. 

Link was starting to feel drunk. He hadn’t felt this feeling before and he really didn’t know what he thought about it. He just began to relax more. He started to feel less anxious watching the movie knowing Rhett was beside him. A scary scene popped up in the movie, and Link used that to his advantage to scoot closer to Rhett. He couldn’t figure out why he was so drawn to Rhett at this moment, but he did not want to question it. The closer he got, the faster his heart beat. This was something that Link had never experienced. Rhett was focused on the movie, but once Link scooted closer he easily got distracted. He also began to move a couple of inches at a time towards Link. Soon, their knees began to touch, then their legs. After only a couple of minutes, the sides of their bodies were fully touching, having them both share the middle cushion of a three cushion couch. 

Rhett, being the bigger of the two, decided to put his arm up on the couch to see if Link would move into his own body. Link waited until another scary moment to make his move closer to Rhett so it would seem less conspicuous. By the time the movie finished, Rhett had his arm wrapped around Link and Link was resting his head on Rhett’s chest. Link smiled and let out a little laugh. He couldn’t believe this little moment made him so happy. He didn’t want to move, but the end credits were almost over and Rhett hadn’t moved or said a word. Link sat up and turned to face Rhett. He had fallen asleep. Link grinned. He treaded lightly while slowly moving Rhett from sitting up to lying down. He picked up the blanket at the end of the couch and threw it over Rhett. Link was about to head to his room, but he just had to take a second to look at Rhett peacefully sleeping. Rhett was so… beautiful. His hair was perfect with curls and his skin was glowing. Link hadn’t wiped the smile off of his face for what felt like days. His cheeks began to hurt, but he didn’t care. He was filled with joy and contentment. He had hoped that even if Rhett became a Sigma Nu, Rhett would still be able to come home to him and they could have moments like this. 

Link had already began to sober up. He came back to reality and realized what he was thinking. He went into his room and shut the door. He fell face down onto his pillow, turned over and let out a big sigh. “Holy shit, I have a crush on Rhett.”


	4. Chapter 4

Link threw his hands up on his face and let out another big sigh. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it all along. He was feeling every emotion at once: happiness, joy, sadness, fear, anger. He couldn’t believe how completely naive he had been all this time. That is why he didn’t like Andrew. He was jealous. He couldn’t deal with this at the moment. 

Link began talking to himself. “It’s not like I could talk to him about it. And even if I wanted to, what would he say? Ugh!” Link rose up from his bed and began to pace back and forth. “But he did have his arm around me. Maybe he feels the same way? No it was probably just the alcohol. Oh, shit. I can’t with this right now.” 

Link walked into his bathroom and washed his face. He began to think. He started class in two days and should to focus on that. He wanted to make good grades and become successful. He just could not understand why these feelings decided to pop up right now. Then, Link began to contradict himself. He thought back to highschool when Rhett had girlfriends and why he himself didn’t. He was never interested in anyone. He was perfectly content with hanging out with his best friend. 

It was Rhett. It was always Rhett. Link rinsed off his face again and looked into the mirror. He stared at himself for a few seconds then just let out dry laughter. “You’re an idiot, Neal.”

He realised that he couldn’t do anything about it tonight, so he figured he would try to get some sleep. Link found some happiness that night while laying in his bed. He could not get over the fact that Rhett did put his arm around him. ‘That must mean something’ he thought to himself considering something like this had not happened before. He turned over onto his side and closed his eyes. The images were like a movie over and over in his head. He and Rhett on the couch cuddling, smiling, laughing, being happy and enjoying the moment. His mind began to wander even further. The idea of he and Rhett looking into each other’s eyes and then Rhett leaning in for a kiss. Link’s eyes shot open. He immediately started to get hard. He had never thought of Rhett in a sexual way; not directly like that at least. He had listened to Rhett tell stories of him hooking up with his girlfriends or something like that, but he kind of thought he got turned on by the act of someone making out with a girl. He didn’t think it was because of him being physically attracted to Rhett. 

This feeling actually made Link question himself. He had never jerked off to the thought of Rhett. Was that wrong? Was it wrong to get off thinking about your best friend when they didn’t even know about your feelings? Link’s dick was growing and was waiting for his hand to help out. Link was conflicted, but he needed to let himself go. Just the idea of kissing Rhett made his cock throb in agony. Link thought to himself that if he pulled up some faceless man on the internet that maybe would help him feel less guilty. 

He began to scroll through PornHub to find something that peaked his interest. Once he started a video, it was not long before his pants were down. He released his cock. Link pressed his palm on the tip and started moving his hands slowly up and down his shaft, immediately letting out a moan while throwing his head back. It had been a minute since Link pleasured himself and he wanted to enjoy it. However, every time his eyes closed, he just saw Rhett. Rhett kissing him, grabbing him, throwing him down on the couch, letting out a loud moan. Link could barely stand it. He couldn’t even hear the video that was playing. He was high on the lust of Rhett. He was moving his hand faster and faster up and down his cock, already on the brink of orgasm. His hips moved forward as he finished fucking into his hand. He let out a loud moan with Rhett’s name falling off of his lips. Cum fell on Link’s hand and all over his chest while he humped his hand. 

Link laid there with his hand lying on his stomach. He was in awe of the feeling he just had. He wanted Rhett to be there. He wanted it to be real. He reached over on his side table and grabbed the tissues to clean himself up. Once he did, he pulled his pants back up and curled up under his covers. He quickly fell asleep with more images of him and Rhett floating around in his head. 

It was the eve of the first day of class. It had been 2 days since they had had their cuddling moment. Link was overwhelmed with anxiety because they had not yet talked about it. Rhett still acted the same, so Link didn’t know if he should bring it up or not. He did not want to lose Rhett. If he brought up his feelings, then he could make things way too awkward for them to move on from. He was all in his head and couldn’t even focus on the fact that school was starting tomorrow. 

Rhett decided to cook some spaghetti for dinner. It was a go-to meal because it was cheap. Link was sitting in the living room watching The Office while Rhett was getting everything together to eat. 

“Dinner is ready, Link,” Rhett said. 

“Good ‘cuz I’m hungry.” Rhett just looked at Link and rolled his eyes. 

“You know,” Rhett started. “You should also learn to cook something so we could maybe have something different than pasta every night.”

“Yeah, but that’s no fun. I like it when you cook. You don’t burn the food.” Link laughed while putting his head down out of embarrassment. 

Rhett threw the kitchen towel he was holding over his shoulder and then put his arm on Link’s bicep. “You don’t always burn the food. Only sometimes. And maybe we could learn together?”

Link couldn’t help but blush. He felt the heat rush to his face. “Yeah, ok. I’d like that.” 

Link woke up with an abundant amount of energy. He shot out of bed and got ready for the day. When Link walked into the kitchen, Rhett was already washing a cereal bowl in the sink.

“You about ready to walk to class? Our first college class ever?” Rhett questioned.

“Psh yeah. Actually, probably not, but I mean we are gonna be fine.” 

Rhett laughed. “You can’t start stressing about class when it hasn’t even started yet, Neal. You’re so ridiculous.” 

“Okay let’s not talk about this right now,” Link scoffed while smiling. “I just wanna get this show on the road. Grab your bag, McLaughlin.” Rhett grabbed his bag as commanded, Link grabbed an apple and the boys headed out the door. 

The walk was only about 12 minutes from their apartment to the engineering building on campus. Pretty convenient. It was still pretty warm outside since it was only August, but not sweltering. Once they got to the building, they found the room of their first class and sat in two seats side by side. Link’s leg immediately started bouncing up and down. Rhett, with his arm under the table, moved his hand on top of Link’s bouncing leg. Link’s leg stopped bouncing. Rhett’s touch was so soft and so calming.

“Calm down, bo. You know you’re going to do great. School is where you shine. I am the one who should be nervous,” Rhett said in a whispered tone. 

Link just admired Rhett. He looked at Rhett with the softest eyes that reflected a big thank you. Rhett removed his hand from Link’s leg and Link’s stomach turned. He knew Rhett couldn’t leave his hand on his leg the whole time in class. He knew that would be absolutely ridiculous and unreasonable. However, that didn’t stop him from feeling sad when his hand was removed. Link did not realise that he craved Rhett’s touch. He wanted it no matter how small or simple it was. A touch on the leg, back or shoulder would suffice. He just wanted to find any excuse for it. 

Lost in his thoughts of Rhett, Link was brought back to reality by his professor walking into class with a loud “Good Morning” coming from his lips. The professor was tall, slim and dressed in a graphic tee with jeans and white converse. ‘Very casual for a teacher’ Link thought to himself. 

The first day of class is basically an orientation, so it was over fairly quickly after they received their syllabuses. The boy’s schedules were the same this whole semester so they spent their down time between classes together as well. They found a place to sit at a table outside under a tree to kill time for the next hour and a half before their next class. Rhett whiped out his computer and put on his headphones. He liked to mess around with Garage Band and things of that nature so that he could work on writing some new tunes. Link decided to sit on the ground with his back against the tree instead of at the table with Rhett.

After about twenty minutes of them hanging around, Rhett’s phone begins to ring. Rhett tells Link it’s Andrew and then answers the phone. 

“Hello?”  
Link nodded with a somewhat encouraging nod but faked a soft smile.  
“Hey man.” Rhett continued.  
“Yeah I had a lot of fun too.”  
“Wait, really?”  
“Oh yeah that sounds awesome! Okay.”  
“Okay yeah. I will be there. At 5 right?”  
“Alright sounds good. I will see you then. Thanks, man.”

Rhett hung up the phone and looked at Link. “Well obviously you heard my positive reactions. They gave me a bid or whatever. So like they want me to be apart of their frat!” 

Link couldn’t help but feel a wave of sadness fill up his body. He knew he didn’t want Rhett to be involved in that group, but the bigger part of him wanted Rhett to be happy. ‘Just look at him though,’ Link began to think. ‘He is so happy. His smile is gorgeous. He deserves this and I no longer need to hold him back.’

“I am so happy for you Rhett. Of course they want you. They loved you.”

“They told me I need to go to the official meeting tonight at 5. Would you mind dropping me off? He said it might take a while.”

“Of course I will,” Link nodded. Link already started to feel Rhett disappearing from his life. Link began to have a whirlwind of thoughts about every worst case scenario. However, he knew he had to put on a brave face for his best friend. 

The rest of the day went by relatively quickly. They had two more classes for the day that lasted about fifteen minutes each because of it being syllabus day. Around 1:15, they were done for the day. It was unusual for freshman to have such a condensed type of schedule, but it left the rest of the day open for adventure. The boys walked outside of the building of their last class and Link took in a deep breath. He was happy to be at NC State and now it was his turn to take advantage of it. It was time for him to find himself and make friends. Since Rhett was doing it, he knew he had to. 

They walked back to the apartment and before walking inside, Link turned to Rhett. “Hey, I think I am going to go for a drive. Maybe find a park to read at or something.”

“Oh, I actually wanna stay here and play some music if that’s okay with you. I also need to find something to wear tonight and I would love your help.”

Obviously, Rhett’s response made Link sulk, but he put on a smile. “Yeah of course. I figured I’d go alone anyway. I’ll be back soon.”

Link got in his car and mindlessly started driving. He turned on his Beatles playlist, rolled down his window and let his left arm hang outside to feel the August air. Link felt peace. Granted, he was still worried about Rhett joining the frat, but he figured that would always loom in the back of his head. At this point, he couldn’t do anything about it. Rhett was going to join and he was excited about it. He couldn’t stop it so He needed to embrace it and move on. Link knew that if Rhett was being independent, he needed to attempt to be as well. He headed to one place where he knew he could feel comfortable being alone- a bookstore. 

Link loved to read. It was an easy way to escape the real world and escape his own anxious thoughts. He was interested in all types of genres: fiction, non-fiction, documentary, biopics, sci-fi. He liked it all. He had found one last night on his phone he knew at some point he wanted to visit, so he pulled up that shop’s address and decided to head in that direction. Once he arrived, he walked in and admired the aesthetic of the shop; so calm, so quaint. It smelled of espresso and James Bay played softly in the background. Link began to wander towards the first shelf of books. It was the non-fiction section. He wandered around for a while until he came upon a biopic about Merle Haggard and decided this is where he wanted to start. He pulled it off the shelf and went to the checkout counter. A blonde headed boy around Link’s height was working.

“Is this all for ya?” he asked Link. 

“Yeah for now. I plan on being a regular.” Link laughed at his own "joke". Then, he began to realise how cringy and nerdy he actually sounded. He just slowly stopped laughing and brought out his wallet to pay. 

“Well, for now I can help you. However, I do work here regularly,” the boy bantered back. 

‘Hm, okay maybe he’s just as lame as I am’ Link thought to himself. 

“That’ll be $5 for a week rental. Do you want to start a membership?” 

“Actually, yeah. That would be great.” Link said optimistically. 

“Okay, I just need your name and email. If you use your school email, you can even get a student discount. It comes in handy.” The blonde smiled at Link. He had brown eyes and a soft stare. He seemed interested in helping Link out. Or maybe he was just interested in Link. Link shook that thought away immediately. Link had never fully considered himself gay, but at this moment all he could think about was Rhett. He did not want to confuse himself anymore than he already was. Thinking about someone else would not make the weight on his heart feel lighter. 

“Okay. My name is Charles Neal and my email is cln0012@ncstate.edu”. 

“Charles,” the boy said. “What a proper name. Charles.”

“I actually go by Link. Like you said, Charles sounds so proper and I’m so...not,” Link said with a light laugh. “Lincoln is my middle name. So I go by Link.”

“Alright, Link that’ll be $3 now for the week. See. I told you being a student has benefits.” 

Link handed over his card. As the boy handed his card back he starts to introduce himself. “I’m Jarod, by the way. I look forward to you being a regular here, Link.” Jarod winked at Link. Link retrieved his card with a slight blush of pink rising in his cheeks. 

“I’ll see you next time. Thanks, man.” Link grabbed his book and headed out to his car. 

‘Everyone just loves to wink here don’t they.’ Link couldn’t help but smile while opening his car door. He was not interested in Jarod, but he was flattered by the wink and fun banter. It was a boost of confidence. 

The clock in the car said 3:18 pm. Link figured he should head back in case Rhett needed help picking out an outfit or if he needed calming down because he was too nervous about the initiation. He pulled up at the apartment and walked in on Rhett jammin to some old country music. He didn’t seem nervous at all. Rhett was radiating confidence dancing around the living room.

“What are you doing Rhett,” Link asked with a loud chuckle. 

Rhett ran over to Link and grabbed his hands. Rhett continued to sing the lyrics of ‘Boot Scootin Boogie’ and started to drag Link into the living room, moving Link’s arms up and down to the beat of the music. 

'Heel toe do si do  
Come on baby let's go boot scootin' '

Link rolled his eyes sarcastically out of habbit, but couldn’t stop smiling. Rhett grabbed the book from Link’s hand and set it down on the couch.

“Come on, dance with me!”

They both sang at the top of their lungs and danced around the living room table.

'Get down, turn around, go to town 

Boot Scootin’ boogie'

They both plopped on the couch and Rhett turned down the speaker. The loud laughter quieted down to a lull.

“Hey look, I know you aren’t fond of me doing this frat thing, but thank you for supporting me and for taking me tonight. I promise I will try to make this as painless as possible for you. You are still the most important person in my life and I’m still here for you no matter what. This is just something I need to do.” 

Link stared at Rhett and gave a soft, warm smile. “I appreciate that. And I know you need to do this. I support you no matter what. Don’t worry about me. College is the time to explore new things and I know we won’t do every single thing together. But I am also here for you, no matter what.” 

Rhett gave Link a huge smile and brought in Link for a big bear hug. His hugs were so comforting and warm. He hugged him back while resting his head on Rhett’s chest. Link really wanted to enjoy this moment in Rhett’s arms because he didn't know when he would be here again.


	5. Chapter 5

The next week wasn’t too different from a normal week back in North Carolina. Rhett and Link went to class together, studied together, and hung out at home. Every once in a while Rhett would get a phone call that would take up an hour or so of conversation, but that was just because Sigma Nu hadn’t started their weekly meetings or parties yet. The frat was waiting for syllabus week to be over. Link was excited to get into more of a routine with his classes, but he was dreading the next week when it came to his free time with Rhett. He really didn’t know what to expect and he was very nervous that Rhett wasn’t going to be around except for class. 

\---

The Monday after syllabus week rolled around very quickly. On the way to their morning class, Rhett mentioned to Link that his first “chapter” meeting was this week along with their first pledge party. Rhett began to explain that chapter was just the official meeting of the entire frat every week to discuss weekly details and just a couple of housekeeping things. It turned out that everyone has to dress up for chapter which was kind of strange, but Rhett knew he had to do it. He then began to tell Link about pledge parties. 

“So “pledges” are the new people coming into the frat and they have to throw parties every so often to meet girls in sororities and other guys in the frat. Alcohol is provided, but by the us, the pledges.”

“So basically it’s just a bunch of wild parties with booze and girls,” Link snarked. 

“I mean, kinda. But, there is a rule that there is a rotation of pledges who are drivers for each party. They are not allowed to drink and they have to drive any upperclassman wherever they need to go. If they aren’t a driver, they can drink as much as they want.” 

“Okay so if you aren’t a drunk idiot, you’re a babysitter. This sound so promising.”

“Link, c’mon man. You said you would be supportive. You know I’m not doing this for the parties or the alcohol.”

Since the boys hadn’t had a ton of freedom to experiment with alcohol, they didn’t consider themselves heavy drinkers. The only time they ever consumed alcohol before college was in highschool when they tried to make their own strawberry wine. Ultimately it was a fail, but it was something they failed at together. That’s what made the memory so great. 

Rhett liked to have a drink here and there if they had the opportunity, but he was never adamant about drinking. Link just walked alongside his best friend, nodding his head. He was not fond of hearing that the frat had parties specifically for them to meet other girls, but he tried to shove that thought out of his mind. 

\---

Wednesday came and it was the day of Rhett’s first chapter meeting. After coming home from class, Rhett headed straight to his closet to find an outfit. He wanted to impress the guys with his style and wanted to try his best to look the part. 

“Link, will you help me pick out an outfit for chapter?” Rhett asked and he peeked around the corner of his room into the living room.

Link stood up off of the couch, walked into Rhett’s room and sat on his bed. He knew what looked good on Rhett, but didn’t know if he actually wanted to help him. No matter how he felt though, he knew he was resigned. 

“What do you have to work with, McLaughlin?”

Rhett stood still just staring at his closet. He didn’t know if he should go all out and wear a blazer or just a button down with khakis. 

“They said it was business professional so I guess I’m going to wear the blazer I wore to spring formal last year.” Rhett stated. He reached into the back of his closet and brought out a dark navy blue blazer and laid it on his bed. Rhett began to scrounge around his closet for a shirt to go under the jacket. He pulled out a light blue button down shirt as well as a white one and some khakis he has hung up. He turned to Link.

“Okay, I’m gonna try on both shirts with the jacket and you tell me which one looks better.”

Link nodded and Rhett began to undress. Link immediately got lost in the way Rhett moved. He moved swiftly as he took off his shirt exposing his bare and toned chest. He unbuckled his belt and dropped his shorts to the ground. Standing in front of Link was a beautiful man in nothing but his boxers. Not just any man, though; it was his best friend. 

_He’s so hot.___

_ __ _

__

Link had to stop staring. He shook the thought out of his mind and turned to look at the ground. After a few moments, Rhett called Link’s name demanding for his attention. 

“What do you think?” Rhett had put on the white shirt first. It was fitted and clung onto his figure in all the right places. He looked gorgeous. 

“Honestly, I think the blue one might look weird. The white one looks really good on you… I mean yeah, it looks good. It’s a good looking shirt. You should just wear that one,” Link said stumbling over his words. 

Rhett walked into his bathroom to examine his outfit. Link leaned across the bed to see Rhett’s reaction to himself in the mirror. Rhett began to run his fingers slowly through his fair to fix his curls just the way he wanted them.

_He has to know he is torturing me.___

_ __ _

_ __ _

The way he ran his elegant fingers through his hair, giving it a few correcting tugs, his mouth slightly open as he preened himself with unintentional and disarming sexuality made Link blush. He threw his head down to hide his embarrassment. When Rhett approved of his hairstyle, he walked out of the bathroom and walked towards his closet to grab his socks and shoes. 

“I think you’re right about the blue,” Rhett said while sitting next to Link on the bed. “What would I do without ya, Neal.” Rhett looked Link right in the eyes and Link melted. It was like every single thing Rhett started to do made Link weak in the knees. He was thankful they were sitting down otherwise he thought he might’ve fallen over. 

\---

Rhett had been gone for two hours and counting. Link had cooked dinner- well made Kraft mac and cheese. It was an easy meal to survive on for the night while his “personal chef” was away at his meeting. The clock was inching closer to 9:00 pm and Link was wondering how late this meeting was going to last. He wanted to get ready for bed and decompress from the day, but felt like he should wait up for Rhett and see how the night went. Therefore, he decided to stay out in the living room on the couch watching _The Office_ until Rhett got home. Episode after episode came and went and Rhett still wasn’t home. It was around 10:30 when Link’s eyes started to get heavy and he began to drift off. __

_ __ _

_ __ _

At about 11:15, Rhett slowly crept into the boy’s apartment trying to be as quiet as possible knowing Link was probably asleep. He inched his way into the living room and saw his best friend passed out cold on the couch; mouth open and all. Rhett smiled and thought to himself. _What a dork, but he is kind of adorable.___

_ __ _

_ __ _

Rhett grabbed the blanket off of the end of the couch and threw it softly over Link’s sleeping body. He turned off the tv and then went into his room to go to bed. 

\---

The sun began to peak through the blinds into the living room waking Link up. He was confused at first, but after looking around he began to remember what happened. He must’ve fallen asleep on the couch, but he didn’t remember turning off the tv or using the blanket.

_Rhett must have done it. I wonder what time he got back. I am just glad he came home.___

_ __ _

_ __ _

Link looked over at Rhett’s door and saw it shut. He decided he wouldn’t burden him with questions this early. He was going to wash his face and brush his teeth first. 

After cleaning himself up and changing into something more comfortable, Link went up to Rhett’s door and lightly knocked. 

“Rhett,” Link whispered. “Are you up?” Link slowly opened up his creaking door to see a tall god-like man on the top of his covers with, yet again, only his boxers on, asleep. Link rolled his eyes and thought to himself how he just couldn’t catch a break. He began to close the door, but the noise must’ve woken Rhett up because Rhett’s eyes opened and he started to shift around his bed. 

“Link?” Rhett questioned.

Link turned around to look back into Rhett’s room. “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I was just seeing if you were home.”

Rhett laughed as sat up and but his back against his bed frame. “Well yeah I’m home. Where else would I go?”

“I don’t know,” Link laughed nervously. “I was going to wait up for you to hear about your first night but I guess I fell asleep. How was your night?” Link entered Rhett’s room. Rhett noticed Link walking in and shifted to one side of the bed to make room for Link on the other side. Link wasn’t planning on getting on Rhett’s bed, but he had purposefully made room for him, which made his heart flutter.

Link crawled onto the bed as Rhett began to describe his evening. 

“It was a pretty long meeting, I think because it was the first one of the year. They just went over what they expected of us pledges and a couple other rules about how to act on campus and things like that. After the meeting was over, I went around with Andrew meeting more of the brothers.”

_Ugh, Andrew.___

_ __ _

_ __ _

“I ended up meeting a ton of people and I definitely don’t remember their names.” Rhett laughed. “But, after another hour or so they wanted to have a jam session and just see what I could do, I guess. So we went upstairs of the house and just played guitar and someone was on the kahone for a minute, or at least it felt like a minute. It turned out to be for a couple of hours and next thing I know it was like 11 o’clock. So I told them I needed to go and I came home. It was a lot of fun, though! I get along pretty well with the guys. I should’ve told you I was gonna be late just so you kind of knew what was going on. My bad, man.” Rhett nudged Link on the arm.

“You’re good. I’m just glad you had a good time. And I’m glad that you got to have a little jam session. I know you probably had a lot of fun doing that,” Link said supportively. 

“I really did. I had a lot more fun than I thought I would actually. Tonight is our first pledge party, though and I don’t really know what to expect. I don’t have to drive which is good, but I don’t really want to meet any girls right now. I want tonight to go like last night went honestly.”

Link perked up hearing Rhett saying he didn’t want to meet a girl. _I wonder if it’s because of me, or if it is just because he wants to focus on music.___

_ __ _

_ __ _

“If you want, I can go to the party with you… if you’d like. I mean, I don’t have any plans and I could see this whole pledge party scene.” Link was hesitant on offering but he did want to spend time with Rhett. Also, considering their last altercation with alcohol, he was hopefully some flirtation could happen with Rhett. 

“I would love for you to come, but I don’t know if they like for guys not in the frat to come. I can talk to Andrew, though. Since he knows you, I think it would be cool if you came. A lot of people met you at the party, too, and know we are kinda a package deal so I’m thinking they could let it slide.” 

“Sweet,” Link said, trying not to act too excited. “Just let me know what he says.”

\---

After class and an hour or two of homework, the boys were headed back to the apartment. Link had finished his first book on Merle Haggard and wanted to go back to the bookstore to get another good read. Once they arrived at the apartment, Link took off his back pack and handed it towards Rhett. 

“Would you mind taking this in? I think I am gonna go grab another book from the book store I went to last week. I won’t be long.”

Rhett grabbed his bag with a kind of puzzled, but agreeing look. Link had already started walking to his car. “Okay I’ll just see you back here. We need to leave for the party around 6 so plan accordingly… I’m not even sure why I said that because I know you’ve already planned accordingly,” Rhett said while laughing. 

Link laughed and shot Rhett a smile while getting into the driver’s seat. He headed down the street to the bookstore. After parking, he walked into the store to see Jarod working the counter. He ducked his head down and went straight for the books. After browsing for a few minutes, he found a book he wanted and headed towards the counter. 

Jarod saw the dark haired boy and smiled. “Hey again. How’d you like your book? Merle Haggard. Was it any good?” 

“Actually yeah, it was. I love me some Merle, so it was a really good read. I’m gonna get this one next. Do I just exchange them with you or... how does it work?”

“Yeah I’ll take your returns and of course you check out here, too,” Jarod said. “Is this all for you… Charles? Wait you went by something else didn’t you? Link... is that right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Link said with a laugh. He remembered my name. That ‘s kinda sweet.  
“This is all I’m gonna be getting.”

“Alrighty, that’ll be $3. And here you can leave with one more thing.” Jarod got a piece of paper and started to write something. He folded up the paper and put it inside the fold of Link’s new book. 

Link gave Jarod $3 and then grabbed the book to open the cover. He grabbed the piece of paper and saw that Jarod had written down a phone number- presumably his own phone number. Link looked up and Jarod was looking back at Link.

“No pressure or anything, but you’re cute. I just figured I’d give you my number in case I ever had a shot. If you’re taken, that’s totally fine too. Here’s your receipt! I hope you have a great rest of your day and I hope to see you again soon, Link.” 

Link grabbed the receipt and gave Jarod a big smile that was attempting to hide his blushing cheeks. “Thanks, Jarod. And I’ll definitely be back. I have to return the book at some point.”

Jarod laughed way too hard at Link’s corny joke, but it still boosted Link’s confidence. Link walked outside and got into his car. I can’t believe someone actually thinks I’M cute. And he gave me his number. Link didn’t plan on using Jarod’s number anytime soon or at all in fact. He really was just so flattered that someone liked him enough to hit on him a second time. 

He drove back to his apartment radiating a different type of confidence and Rhett noticed it as soon as he walked through the front door. 

“What’s with you?” Rhett questioned while smiling. He loved seeing Link happy and confident. 

“Uhhh okay well some guy at the bookstore thought I was cute and he like actually told me. To my face. He even gave me his number in case ‘I was available’ is what he said,” Link said while rubbing the back of his neck feeling the heat starting to rise. “Honestly, it’s just kinda nice to be hit on, ya know? Boosted my confidence for sure,” Link said and laughed lowering his hand from his neck. Making jokes always made him feel more comfortable in conversations he felt might be awkward. 

Rhett laughed and formed a kind of half smile. “Well I’m glad you got yourself a confidence boost, Neal. Everyone deserves one. Even you.” 

“Man, shut up. I don’t get hit on as much as you do. All of the girls swoon over a tall handsome musician. Let this nerd just bask in this glory for a minute.” Link grabbed a pillow off of their living room couch and flung it towards Rhett. Rhett caught the pillow and just laughed. 

“I’m just kidding Link. Of course you’re cute. You know that. I know that. Don’t compare yourself to others, man. I’m no tall glass of water. I’m just tall.” Rhett placed the pillow back on the couch. “Now go get ready. I want to be early, especially since Andrew pulled some strings and said you can come with me.”

Link got butterflies at the comment of Rhett saying he was cute. A subtle yet noticeable comment. _ Maybe all of these little flirtatious comments really mean something.___

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to criminalmind1927 on tumblr and mythicalVee on twitter for believing in me and pushing me to just start writing. I have no idea where this will go or where this will take me. I do know that i enjoyed doing this and can't wait to let this story unfold. I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think :) <3333


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